Capacity building seminar on "South-South Cooperation on Climate Change-Climate Investment and Financing" opens

On September 2, sponsored by the Department of Climate Change Response of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Institute of Energy, Environment and Economics of Tsinghua University, the China Carbon Neutralization Promotion Project (CCNI), the China-Latin America International Joint Research Center for Clean Energy and Climate Change, and the China-Brazil Climate Change The capacity-building seminar on "South-South Cooperation on Climate Change-Climate Investment and Financing" organized by the Research Center for Change and Energy Technology Innovation and the Wuxi Institute of Applied Technology of Tsinghua University opened in Beijing. 30 students from developing countries and regions along the Belt and Road Initiative will conduct two-week intensive study in Beijing and Wuxi.

It is understood that the climate investment and financing seminar has been successfully held for three times so far, mainly to help students from countries along the "Belt and Road" and developing countries with friendly diplomatic relations with China to more comprehensively, systematically and accurately understand the Chinese government's strategy to deal with climate change., policies, measures, actions and achievements, enhance the management capabilities and technical levels of developing countries in formulating strategies and policies to address climate change and green and low-carbon development, and enhance the management capabilities and technical levels in areas such as climate financing. Promote international exchanges and cooperation between my country and relevant developing countries, thereby further enhancing mutual understanding and support between my country and relevant developing countries in the field of climate change and promoting sustainable development.

Zhou Jian, the organizer and assistant director of the Institute of Energy, Environment and Economics of Tsinghua University, said that the training content covers climate change and global climate governance, green and low-carbon development, climate investment and financing, carbon markets, and green investment and financing opportunities and challenges of the "Belt and Road" South-South cooperation. Through centralized lectures, on-site teaching, discussions and exchanges, we also arrange enterprise surveys, project inspections, organize enterprise docking, exchanges and discussions and other activities. Help students coming to China gain a more comprehensive understanding of China's measures and effectiveness in addressing climate change, and the development of energy-saving and low-carbon industries.

Capacity building seminar on "South-South Cooperation on Climate Change-Climate Investment and Financing" opens in Beijing

It is understood that among this group of students are officials in the field of climate change, experts and technicians in energy-saving and low-carbon industries.

Babito Samuel Akiki, from Uganda on the African continent, currently serves as chief policy analyst at the Uganda Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development. Previously, he served as chief policy analyst in the Cabinet Secretariat in the Office of the President, senior economist in the Office of the Prime Minister for seven years, and senior economist in the Ministry of Local Government.

"These training opportunities under the South-South Cooperation Program will create a group of change agents who can effectively respond to and adapt to the adverse effects of climate change through the effective application of knowledge learned." Babito Samuel Akiki said that although developing countries account for a relatively small proportion of greenhouse gas emissions, these countries are facing the greatest impact of climate change shocks and are also the least capable of recovering from climate pressures. Economic growth is highly dependent on climate-sensitive sectors. Climate change threatens decades of progress in reducing poverty and will put the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at risk. Therefore, as developing countries begin to explore all possible financing options to deal with the consequences of climate change, the timing of climate finance training is very important. It will also help participants understand the various climate finance options, possible carbon markets, and provide guidance on how to access existing climate finance to achieve sustainable development.

Babito Samuel Akiki

Zeyad Abdallah is an engineer from the Jordanian Ministry of Agriculture and secretary-general of the Jordanian Association of Agricultural Engineers. "We are here to discuss climate change, an important challenge facing mankind. Although I firmly believe that, especially since we are all from developing countries, as developing countries, we have limited influence on mitigating climate change, a more effective approach is to accumulate experience and learn effective adaptation tools to deal with climate change." Zeyad Abdallah told reporters that taking water sustainability as an example, this is the area with the greatest impact of climate change, which requires us to find the best water management methods and reduce water losses caused by rising temperatures and droughts. Since the largest proportion of drinkable water is used for agriculture, we hope to ensure food security by maintaining sustainable agriculture. This requires us to find innovative agricultural water conservation methods, such as improving the efficiency of irrigation methods, changing agricultural techniques (such as hydroponics), and developing drought-tolerant agricultural varieties.

"Thank you to the Chinese government and people for their efforts in addressing climate change. In particular, the Climate Change Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China has played an important role in disseminating knowledge and experience, especially in imparting it to developing countries, organizing many such courses, benefiting hundreds of people." Zeyad Abdallah said that China has become one of the global leaders in addressing climate change and has provided a lot of research and support. For example, Jordan is making a large-scale shift to electric vehicles, which account for about 25% of the total number of vehicles. China is a major supplier of these vehicles, accounting for 85% of the total imported electric vehicles.

Zeyad Abdallah

Wissarut Muangpluem, an environmentalist and representative from the Climate Change and Environment Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Thailand, is a man who only started entering the field of climate investment and financing in August 2023 and was responsible for data management and environmental information services for 10 years before that.

"The upcoming training will be critical for us to gain knowledge and skills to deal with complex climate finance. As we delve into topics such as climate change strategies and policies, international technology and cooperation, carbon pricing mechanisms, and experience sharing, we are not only learning new concepts, but also building the ability to drive meaningful change and contribute to a more sustainable future." He said that through this training, he hopes to apply these insights to his work and contribute to broader climate resilience and sustainability goals.

Wissarut Muangpluem

In November 2015, President Xi Jinping proposed at the Paris Conference on Climate Change to carry out cooperation projects in developing countries with 10 low-carbon demonstration zones, 100 climate change mitigation and adaptation projects, and 1000 training places to deal with climate change. With the support of the central government, China has continuously increased its efforts to carry out South-South cooperation on climate change and helped small island states, least developed countries, and African countries improve their capabilities to respond to climate change by organizing climate change capacity building training and other means.

According to reports, as of now, China has signed 52 memorandums of understanding on South-South cooperation on climate change with 42 developing countries. By cooperating in building low-carbon demonstration zones and implementing climate change mitigation and adaptation projects, China has done its best to help other developing countries improve their ability to respond to climate change. In terms of capacity building training, a total of 62 training courses on South-South cooperation in addressing climate change have been held in China, training more than 2400 officials and technical personnel in the field of climate change for more than 120 developing countries.

"Climate change is a major challenge faced by the international community and is related to the future of mankind and the sustainable development of all countries. As a responsible and large developing country, China attaches great importance to addressing climate change, implements a national strategy to actively respond to climate change, and continues to achieve new results in the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development. While doing a good job in domestic work, China has always been a staunch supporter and pragmatic practitioner of South-South cooperation on climate change. Through South-South cooperation on climate change, China continues to provide support within its capabilities to other developing countries in addressing climate change." Xia Qian, deputy director of the Cooperation Department of the Climate Change Response Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, pointed out that so far, the commitment to train more than 1000 professionals to deal with climate change for developing countries has been completed. We will uphold the spirit of "teaching people to fish" and continue to Provide capacity-building training opportunities for professionals in the field of climate change response in relevant developing countries.